


Come Out, Come Clean

by bluebox_dragon



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Coming Out, Emetophobia, Gen, Good Parent Owen Strand, tk makes bad decisions with alcohol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:26:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23337598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebox_dragon/pseuds/bluebox_dragon
Summary: Three times TK Strand comes out to important people in his life, and the various ways it goes right and wrong.
Relationships: Owen Strand & TK Strand
Comments: 8
Kudos: 134





	Come Out, Come Clean

**Author's Note:**

> Completely unedited, as per usual!
> 
> DO NOT READ THE THIRD SECTION IF YOU ARE EMETOPHOBIC  
> It deals with one way that I see TK getting into substance abuse, and does have somewhat descriptive alcohol poisoning.

TK goes to his dad’s firehouse everyday after school. His dad is working a 24 hour shift schedule, so TK only sees his dad there every third day, but everyone else at the station knows him, has known him since he was 7. He thinks he could probably sleep over at the station and no one would care. 

So, he decides to try it. He hates his dad’s new apartment with his new girlfriend, and his mom is mad at him. She said she isn’t, but she hasn’t looked him in the eye since he told her yesterday that he and Mikey got married on the playground. He said he wanted to marry Mikey again when he was older. She said that was inappropriate.

He packs a thin blanket and a couple extra snacks in his backpack before he goes to school, and when he goes to the station after school, he decides he’s just not going to leave. His dad isn’t on shift today, but TK doesn’t really want to see him either, just incase he’s mad like mom. 

“Hey kid, you stayin’ for dinner?” Jones hollers down at him from the kitchen. TK looks up from his homework and nods, it’s not unheard of for him to stay at the station for dinner, but he’s usually done with his homework and gone well before now. He hopes no one catches on to what he’s doing. 

“I’m makin’ lasagna. You gonna help, or keep sittin’ there without earnin’ your keep?” Jones says, and grins when TK bounds up, taking the steps two at a time. TK loves cooking with Jones, loves feeling like part of the firehouse. 

“Reporting for duty sir!” TK says, and then tries and fails to duck out of the way when Jones ruffles his hair. 

Jones makes him wash his hands and put on an apron, before having him line glass dishes with noodles, and then pour cheese and sauce into the pans. 

“So. Is there any reason you’re stayin’ here late tonight?” Jones asks, once the lasagnas are in the oven. The rest of the firefighters are on a call, so it’s just the two of them in the station.

TK looks down at the ground, he hadn’t thought he was so obvious about not going home at the time he usually does. 

“My moms mad at me, I think.” He says finally.

“Should I call your dad?” Jones asks, he looks slightly concerned.

“No thanks.” TK says, and then moves over to the oven and watches the cheese on top of the lasagna melt. 

“Well kid, unfortunately you can’t stay here over night, so I gotta send you home with one of your parents.” Jones says, coming over behind TK. “How about this. You tell me what’s going on, and we’ll see if we can fix it. Then we can figure out if we should call your mom or your dad, ok?” 

TK doesn’t really want to tell Jones what’s going on, but maybe Jones knows why his mom got mad. So he decides to share.

“I got married yesterday. On the playground.” TK says, and Jones laughs out loud.

“You did, huh? Who’s the lucky bride?” That had been what his mom said too. Maybe telling Jones hadn’t been such a good idea. 

“My friend Mikey.” He says softly, almost hoping that Jones doesn’t hear him. Jones stops moving around the kitchen, stops moving at all. TK hates silence, people go silent after bad things happen. 

“Hey, kid. Is this why your mom is mad? ‘Cause you married Mikey on the playground?” Jones’ voice is soft now, he doesn’t sound mad like TK’s mom had.

“No.”

“Ok…” Jones says, “So why did she get mad”

“‘Cuz I said I wanted to marry Mikey when I get older too.” TK still has his back to Jones, which is good because his face is burning. He just wants Jones to get mad already, so that it will be over with, but instead of anger, all he’s getting is silence. He hates silence. 

“Look at me TK.” Jones says, after a minute of quiet that felt like hours. TK shuffles his feet around, and faces Jones, but doesn’t look up. “There’s nothin’ wrong with wanting to marry Mikey. I mean, you are a little young to be thinkin’ about marriage and all. But theres nothin’ wrong with likin’ a boy.”

“That’s not what my mom said.” TK says, finally lifting his head to look at Jones. 

“Well, your mom is wrong. You can like whoever you damn well feel like.” 

“Thats a bad word, Jones.” TK says, the relief of Jones’ reaction is making him feel giddy, and he can’t help but laugh a little bit. 

“I’m serious kid, you can come talk to me about anythin’. Now, is it ok if I call your dad to come get you? I’m sure your parents are worried about you.” 

When TK’s dad comes to get him, half an hour later, Jones doesn’t say anything to his dad about what they talked about. TK doesn’t say anything either. TK doesn’t talk about any of it with his dad for another three years. 

——-

TK comes out to his dad when he’s 13. He has a whole plan, that he and Jones had spent hours at the station coming up with. He has a whole speech written down, tucked into the back of his closet along with several ‘How to Come out to Your Parents’ pamphlets, and a slip of paper with Jones’ address on it. Just in case. 

In the end, he doesn’t use his speech, he doesn’t use any of the talking points laid out in the pamphlets, and thank god he doesn’t need to use the address that Jones had slipped into his hand, said, “I don’t think you’ll ever need this, but if things go south, you always have a place with me.”

He blurts it out, at 11:00 in the morning, on a Wednesday in November. He’s home from school with a cold, and his dad doesn’t have a shift today. They are on the couch, TK’s head on his dads lap, watching shitty daytime cartoons. He has no clue why he does it then, just sits up, and takes a deep breath.

“I’m gay.” He says, way too fast, and possibly way too loud. He can’t hear over the roaring in his ears, his heart is beating out of his chest. He can’t look at his dad, instead focusing on the box of tissues on the floor.

He doesn’t look up until his dad puts a hand under his chin, tilts his face up until their eyes meet. 

“I love you, TK. No matter what.” His dad says, and TK thinks he might pass out from relief, the tension leaving his body all at once. He nearly collapses forward, shoving his face into his dads shoulder, while his dad hugs him tight. 

He doesn’t even notice that he’s crying until they pull apart, but there are tears and snot running down his face, and he can’t catch his breath. 

“Ok, clean yourself up, and then we’ll talk about it. Sounds good?” His dad says, handing him a tissue, and rubbing his back. TK just nods, sniffling. 

“So, how long have you known?” 

“Um, a couple years? I dunno.” TK says, “I had a crush on Mike in 5th grade.” 

“Mm, you can do better than Mike.” He teases, and ducks out of the way when TK shoves his shoulder, saying, “I know!” 

“Does mom know yet?” Is the next question.

“No…” TK sighs, “I don’t want to tell her yet either.” 

TK must make a face or something, because his dad pulls him close again, and rubs his shoulder. “She loves you unconditionally, TK. But I won’t tell her anything. This is yours to share, and yours only. I won’t tell anyone you don’t want me to.” 

“You’re only the second person to know, dad.” TK says, “I don’t think I really wanna tell anyone else right now.”

“Wait. Who knew before me?” His dad asks.

“Uh, Jones, actually. He’s actually known since I figured out I had a crush on Mikey in 4th grade.” TK says. 

This information gets a laugh out of his dad, “Well, I doubt you could’ve told a more trustworthy guy, TK.”

“He’s been pretty great. He, uh, gave me his address incase things went wrong here.” TK admits.

“While I appreciate him looking out for you, you know that there is nothing you could do or say that would stop me from loving you, right?” 

TK goes in for another hug. They stay there for quite a while.

————

TK manages to avoid talking about his sexuality with his mom until he’s 16. By this point, he’s had a boyfriend or two. He’s out at school, and at the fire station. Of all the people in his life that matter, she’s the last one to know. 

It goes badly, so TK goes to a club. His fake is passable.

He gets there at 9, he gets kicked out just before midnight. 

Sits on a curb, tries to collect his thoughts, tries to figure out where the fuck he is.

The world is fucking spinning, he pukes on the sidewalk.

When he manages to stagger to his feet, he just walks. Not in a straight line, but then again he’s not straight. The joke isn’t funny, not even in his inebriated state.

When he reaches his destination, he’s sobered up just enough to realize where he is. But he walks into the door frame, so maybe he hasn’t. Then he’s puking again, before he even realizes it, and he braces a hand against the door, prays to god that his dad won’t kill him for puking on the fire station.

The door he’s bracing against swings inward, and TK goes with it. Fortunately, there are hands on his shoulders and waist, stopping him from falling into his own vomit. Small fucking miracles.

“Jesus Christ, kid.” Theres a familiar voice to his right, but he can’t figure out how to turn his head.

“Get him inside, someone call Cap.” Another familiar voice. 

“Hey, kid.” There’s a hand on his face, forcing his head upwards, “What did you take TK? Is this just alcohol?” Someone pulls his eyelid open, and TK pulls away, the lights are way too bright.

TK tries to answer, he really does, but he’s choking on vomit again. The hands holding him lower him to the ground, hold his head forward.

“Get Carrols over here. This is alcohol poisoning or some shit.” 

“His pupils are dilated to hell.”

“We got an ETA on Cap?”

TK doesn’t feel sick anymore, which he counts as a win. He pries open his eyes, hadn’t even realized they were closed. 

“Pl’z, don’ call m’da.” He can tell his words are slurred. 

“We already did, TK.” Jones says. Now that TK’s eyes are open, he can see that he’s being held up by Jones on one side, and Adams on the other. Carrols is making his way over, med bag in hand. 

“C’n I jus’ sleep?” TK asks, he closes his eyes again.

“No, TK.” He thinks it’s Carrols talking. “You need to stay awake, Ok? Open your eyes, TK.”

TK doesn’t open his eyes. He can’t move his body, so he lets his mind slip away as well.

———-

Everything hurts. 

TK think he may or may not be dying. But he decides to open his eyes anyways.

He regrets the decision as soon as he makes it, because opening his eyes means making eye contact with his dad, who is sitting in a chair at the end of the hospital bed, looking equal parts pissed and concerned. 

Then the confusion takes over, why is he even here in the first place. 

“Wha-,” He starts his sentence, and then realizes his throat is scratched to shit, and pauses to cough. A cup of water is pressed into his hand, and he takes a shaky sip. 

“You had your stomach pumped, TK.” His dad says, “What the hell happened last night. I get a call at midnight from the boys at the station. You showed up black out drunk, threw up all over the station.” 

“I don’t remember that.” TK whispers. His eyes are burning, god, this is not the time to cry.

“TK. Your mom called me, told me what happened.” He stops and sighs, “This isn’t a healthy way to deal with things, TK. This can’t happen again.”

It does happen again. He switches up the substance, learns to hide it better. But he doesn’t get clean until he’s 20.

**Author's Note:**

> Since I, like many many others on here, am currently in quarantine, I have plenty of time to write, so if anyone has any prompts or anything, send them my way!


End file.
